Multiple readings help 'The Eight' to fly high

Dasher (Ben Green) recounts how he worked his way up to "First Reindeer" on Santa Claus' team of flying ungulates in Chance Theater's annual production of Jeff Goode's "The Eight: Reindeer Monologues."DOUG CATILLER, TRUE IMAGE STUDIO

Just as many of Santa's reindeer are tired of having to share the spotlight with Rudolph every year, theater fans everywhere must long for December shows that don't revolve around the winter holidays or characters named Scrooge or George Bailey.

At least, that was probably the thinking of playwright Jeff Goode in penning "The Eight: Reindeer Monologues." Why not strike back against the excesses of the season with a raunchy, adult-oriented look at the goings-on at the North Pole?

The series of eight scathingly funny speeches, some of which are outright tirades, has served Chance Theater well over the years. Like its most recent previous "Reindeer" productions, this one double- and triple-casts all eight roles, giving audiences a new look and the staging a new spin each time out.

Director Oanh Nguyen and associate director Alex Bueno tap a total of 16 performers, including Bueno herself, who repeats her take on Comet as a proud street buck of Mexican-American heritage.

This year's show is considerably faster paced than others, making for fewer dead spots. While Goode's strictly X-Rated (or at least a hard R) text takes potshots at a wide variety of cultural targets, much of the evening's humor is generated through improv encouraged by the directors.

Cast members prowl the audience, looking for patrons with whom to interact. That element plus the rotation of performers for each reindeer character gives each performance of the show a flavor of its own.

The opening newspaper headline "Foul Play Postpones Christmas" is followed by the appearance of Dasher, portrayed by Ben Green as a red plaid-shirted, profanity-spewing redneck with a crushed beer can nestled on one antler.

Green's buck is jittery with resentment toward Rudolph and Vixen, and with anger at being taken for granted, his macho bluster tempered with crude posturings and a slobby demeanor. Risk and danger are the whole point of flying in bad weather, he insists.

As each deer tells his or her story, we see them aligning either with Vixen, who has filed sexual harassment charges against Santa for raping her in the elves' toyshop, or with the Kringles, for having made Christmas a reality for millions of kids.

Also on Vixen's side is Dannielle Green's deliberately hyper, manic, comically shrill Blitzen. Green will remind many of former "Saturday Night Live"-er Kristen Wiig in both appearance and comedic timing as her high-strung, near-neurotic doe character dishes the dirt on a crude Santa wholly to blame for wrecking Vixen's career.

The character's strengths are his candor and loyalty. While Comet could never defy St. Nick, Rudolph's dad, the aging buck Donner (Jeff Hellebrand), and sweet-tempered doe Dancer (Kimberly Kocol), appear caught in the crossfire.

Speaking in heavy New Yorkese, Hellebrand's Donner glows with bursts of parental pride over holding out on joining Santa's team until Rudolph was also given a job, all while imploring us to empathize with having to deal with "the most powerful man in the world" (Santa).

Dasher (Ben Green) recounts how he worked his way up to "First Reindeer" on Santa Claus' team of flying ungulates in Chance Theater's annual production of Jeff Goode's "The Eight: Reindeer Monologues." DOUG CATILLER, TRUE IMAGE STUDIO
Cupid (Christopher Renfro), the "only openly gay reindeer" on Santa's team, is a bubbly dandy in Chance Theater's annual production of Jeff Goode's "The Eight: Reindeer Monologues." DOUG CATILLER, TRUE IMAGE STUDIO
In "The Eight: Reindeer Monologues," playwright Jeff Goode depicts Blitzen (Dannielle Green) as a militant feminist. Chance Theater's ninth annual production features a total of 17 actors portraying Santa's "elite" team of flying reindeer. In the various roles, many of the performers are double- and triple-cast. DOUG CATILLER, TRUE IMAGE STUDIO
Donner (Jeff Hellebrand), a sad sack rescued from obscurity by "the most famous reindeer of all," relates his and son Rudolph's experiences as members of Santa Claus' famous, beloved team of flying reindeer. Chance Theater's production, its ninth consecutive staging of Jeff Goode's adult 1994 comedy, is directed by Chance artistic director and co-founder Oanh Nguyen. DOUG CATILLER, TRUE IMAGE STUDIO

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